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Related Experiment Videos

Exercise interventions for smoking cessation.

M Ussher1

  • 1Department of Community Health Sciences (Psychology), St George's Hospital Medical School, Cranmer Terrace, London, UK, SW17 0RE. m.ussher@sghms.ac.uk

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews
|January 28, 2005
PubMed
Summary

Regular exercise may help smokers quit by reducing nicotine withdrawal and cravings. However, evidence from 11 trials suggests that exercise interventions alone or combined with cessation programs are not consistently more effective than cessation programs alone.

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Area of Science:

  • Exercise Science
  • Addiction Research
  • Public Health Interventions

Background:

  • Regular physical activity may aid smoking cessation by mitigating nicotine withdrawal symptoms and cravings.
  • Understanding the efficacy of exercise interventions in smoking cessation is crucial for public health strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the effectiveness of exercise-based interventions, alone or combined with smoking cessation programs, compared to smoking cessation interventions alone.
  • To synthesize evidence from randomized controlled trials on exercise and smoking cessation.

Main Methods:

  • Systematic search of multiple databases (Cochrane Tobacco Addiction Group register, MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Dissertation Abstracts, SPORTDiscus) for relevant studies.
  • Inclusion of randomized trials comparing exercise interventions (alone or adjunct) with cessation programs, focusing on smokers or recent quitters with at least six months follow-up.

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  • Narrative synthesis of study characteristics and smoking outcomes due to heterogeneity; no meta-analysis was performed.

    • Main Results:

    • Eleven trials were identified, with many being small in sample size and varying in intervention intensity and timing.
    • Three studies reported significantly higher smoking abstinence rates in physically active groups compared to control groups at treatment end.
    • Only one study demonstrated a sustained benefit of exercise on abstinence at three and 12 months; other studies showed no significant effect or inconsistent results.

    Conclusions:

    • Limited evidence supports exercise as an aid to smoking cessation, with only one trial providing positive results.
    • Most trials were underpowered or used insufficiently intense exercise interventions, precluding definitive conclusions on ineffectiveness.
    • Future research requires larger sample sizes, adequately intense exercise protocols, comparable control conditions, and measures of exercise adherence.